Suriname makes hydrocarbon discovery again near Guyana border

ExxonMobil and its partner, PETRONAS, have made the first hydrocarbon discovery in a Suriname block near the border with Guyana, called Block 52.
PETRONAS Suriname E&P B.V. (PSEPBV), the Suriname subsidiary of the Malaysian PETRONAS, is the operator of the block. It announced the results of the Sloanea-1 exploration well yesterday. It said that the well encountered several hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone packages with good reservoir qualities in the Campanian section, and that further evaluation is being undertaken to understand the full extent of the discovery.

The Sloanea-1 exploration well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 4,780 metres using the Maersk Developer rig, according to PETRONAS.
PETRONAS Vice President of Exploration, Upstream, Emeliana Rice-Oxley said: “We are pleased with the positive results of the well. It will provide the drive for PETRONAS to continue exploring in Suriname, which is one of our focus basins in the Americas.”

PETRONAS was awarded Block 52 with effective date of April 26, 2013 and completed a 50 percent farm-down in May with Exxon subsidiary, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V.
Rice-Oxley said “We look forward to further successful collaboration with our partner ExxonMobil and further strengthen our relationship with the government of the Republic of Suriname, as a solutions partner, progressing towards delivering clean and reliable energy to the market.”
In a statement, ExxonMobil lauded the first find it has made in Suriname as building on its investments in Guyana.

Its Senior Vice President of Exploration and New Ventures, Mike Cousins said, “We will continue to leverage our deepwater expertise and advanced technology to explore frontier environments with the highest value resource potential.”
Block 52 is 1.2 million acres, similar in size to ExxonMobil’s Canje Block in Guyana. The Block is about 75 miles offshore Suriname, north of the capital Paramaribo, and next to the lucrative Block 58, where Apache and Total have made three successful discoveries.
Exploration in Block 58 had been excited by ExxonMobil’s discoveries in the Guyana portion of the basin. It has made 18 discoveries in the Stabroek Block, and one at the Kaieteur Block.